Potters Lose; Salem Advances to Postseason

For the first time in school history the Salem Quakers footbal team will advance to the postseason (according to projections at joeeitel.com) with their 33-14 win at Patterson Field. Salem literally always led in this game as they won the toss, elected to receive, and ran the game’s opening kickoff back for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead, then recovered a “walk the dog” onside kick and drove the ball 48 yards for another score and it was 13-0 only 2:14 into the game. The Potters responded with a scoring drive of their own to cut it to 13-7 and recovered their own onside kick but that ensuing drive stalled in the red zone on downs. Salem scored twice in the 2nd quarter to take a safe 26-7 lead at halftime. The Potters really didn’t have a great answer on defense for Salem’s spread offense. Maybe more blitzing could’ve forced some mistakes. Or just caused getting killed more quickly. Oh well.

The Potters finish the season 4-6. Though the “on the field” record is only one game better than last season I thought this team showed vast improvements over the squads of the McNicol Era. They played hard, they played disciplined, and they showed skill for the game at times. Very young team so there were mistakes, and injuries took their toll as the season moved along, most noteable the absense of Willie Leavell most of the 2nd half of the season. And it was a tough schedule. With the exception of the Linsly game the Potters loses could potentially all be to teams that make the playoffs in their respective states; Steubenville, Maple Heights, Salem, and Martins Ferry I think are all shoe-ins in Ohio and Oak Glen in West Virginia was very alive with a couple weeks left in the WV regular season. I think there is great reason for optimism for the 2010 season. In the meantime good luck to the Quakers and other area teams that qualify for postseason play!